TRON Catalyst PC Review
Summary: Explore the Arq Grid and utilise the power of the Glitch loop to escape.
4.5
Glitch Gaming
Return to the Arq Grid (introduced in TRON: Identity) as Exo, a courier with a much bigger future than just delivering packages. You will need to utilise the powers of the Glitch loop in order to survive and escape.
The moment you start TRON: Catalyst, the neon lights put you right in that world… the world of the Grid… and TRON. The aesthetics of the whole game do a fantastic job of feeling very much part of the TRON universe and that’s just the beginning. You begin the game running courier jobs until one of your deliveries turns out to be explosive… but rather than being derezzed, you have developed a glitch that allows you to loop… or to put it another way… you can “reset” your run from certain points, with the benefit that you keep certain aspects throughout your loops. Think of it as Groundhog Day in the TRON world. You play through to a certain part… learn certain things that you can act on and restart that run… this time you can use the knowledge you gained the first time through to improve the run… whether that’s being in a different place at a certain time or having a conversation with prior knowledge that you couldn’t have had before etc.
It’s an interesting idea and works quite well in the world of computing, on a number of levels. It also means that “dying” is not only fine… sometimes it’s practically beneficial. Each time you loop around you have insight that helps you make more progress and you get to keep leveling up which means that when you loop through an area again… you are going to be much more skilled than you were the first time.
But it’s not just neon that makes a world part of the TRON universe and fear not, there are indeed identity discs (with the obligatory disc based combat), light bikes and ships. The soundtrack feels just right for the world as well with suitably electronic tunes pumping as you make your way through the city and badlands and back again trying to piece together what has happened and what you need to do.
There’s some good voice acting and whilst the “cutscenes” aren’t exactly animated… the stylised characters do look appropriate for the story and convey their menace or rebelliousness quite well. The characters are actually quite well fleshed out and you can almost feel the weight of this world beating down on some of them. I won’t spoil things… but there’s a certain point where you’ve made enough progress that the people you’ve met along the way become even more important. That point carries with it a really nice sense of a change of momentum, like the rebellion is finally getting ready to overthrow the powers that be. That sense doesn’t happen without some good storytelling and good acting to go with it.
Final Thoughts?
TRON: Catalyst is a lot of fun. The mechanics of it mean you don’t have to fear being derezzed (though depending on your difficulty setting it might get frustrating) and the fact that starting again (though not exactly from scratch)… adds a nice twist to what might otherwise be a fairly standard isometric action game. Certainly if you are a fan of TRON and like the idea of the wider TRON universe, give it a look.
About the Author
Chris O'Connor Father of four, husband of one and all round oddity. Gaming at home since about 1982 with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Moving on to the more traditional PC genre in the years that followed with the classic Jump Joe and Alley Cat. CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond PC's have been central to my gaming but I've also enjoyed consoles and hand helds along the way (who remembers the Atari Lynx?). Would have been actor/film maker, jack of many trades master of none.
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